Intimidation - A Virus Is Born
Evolution of the Virus
Since the beginning of our existence on this planet, single-celled organisms, bacteria, and virii have played a formative role in our development. The nature of these elements and their ability to force a reaction, either physiological or emotional, and shape our perception of things, has lead to our general fascination with the topic.
Webster's dictionary points out three distinct definitions for the term itself:
the causative agent of an infectious disease
a computer program usually hidden within another seemingly innocuous program that produces copies of itself and inserts them into other programs and that usually performs a malicious action (as destroying data)
something that poisons the mind or soul
Although covering a diverse set of conditions, it seems that these definitions can be examined in three more generic incarnations: the biological virus (1), the computer virus (2), and the social virus (3).
Though the social virus is the last on the list, and perhaps the least intuitive, it can also be noted that it is also the most pervasive in our modern day world. Traditionally, a social virus might be loosely associated with more common social "isms" such as racism or sexism. Stepping back from these obvious cases, we can find more context by focusing on the core action association behind these forces -- the social distribution of information.
Virii in the Wild
To understand exactly how pervasive the social virus is, a few examples of it in the wild are most appropriate. In the following examples, we�ll call back to the old Biology lessons and consider the virus as the substrate, that which serves as the nutrients for the Social Virus.
Biological Virus
For approximately the past 20 years or so, humans have been dealing with the viral challenges associated with raising livestock. Several times in the last 10 years there have been a few flare ups of incidents where livestock was contaminated and required the destruction of the animals.
For the last week or so, we have been experiencing the beginning of another flare up. This instance is somewhat frustrating for regulators as previous preventative measures had seemingly failed. Media coverage has been extensive and the hunt for the source quick and deliberate.
Concurrent with the coverage of the search for infected animals are a series of reports on the risks of animal-to-human transfer of the disease. Enter the Social Virus. To understand the effect of the virus, some background is required. In the past 20 years or so, there have been approximately 150 reported cases worldwide of the human-borne version of the virus. Additionally, officials working on the investigation of this current outbreak have both quickly quarantined the matter and publicly minimized the potential for human exposure.
Clearly, there is a highly social nature to a totally biological virus.
More will be here soon enough.